ATLANTA (Reuters) – Oil and water may not mix, but managing water — moving it, filtering it, recycling it and ultimately exhausting it — is one of the fastest growing sectors of the oil and gas industry, industry experts and investors said on Thursday.

Because getting U.S. oil and natural gas out of the ground requires billions of gallons (liters) of water a year, “oil companies are the largest water companies in the world,” Amanda Brock, CEO of the water treatment company Water Standard, told a conference on water investment and technology.

ATLANTA, Nov 9 (Reuters) – U.S. state and municipal funding
problems will have a more personal impact on Americans’ lives
than the credit crisis and will reduce the value of their
homes, Wall Street analyst Meredith Whitney forecast on
Wednesday.

Whitney, who famously predicted the U.S. banking crisis in
2007, also offered insight on possible infrastructure
investment in a “golden triangle” of the American heartland
that was less affected by the U.S. housing crisis.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Deaths and health problems from floods, drought and other disasters related to climate change cost an estimated $14 billion over the last decade, researchers said on Monday.

“When extreme weather hits, we hear about the property damage and insurance costs,” said Kim Knowlton, a senior scientist at Natural Resources Defense Council and a co-author of the study. “The healthcare costs never end up on the tab.”

WASHINGTON, Nov 7 (Reuters) – Deaths and health problems
from floods, drought and other U.S. disasters related to
climate change cost an estimated $14 billion over the last
decade, researchers said on Monday.

“When extreme weather hits, we hear about the property
damage and insurance costs,” said Kim Knowlton, a senior
scientist at Natural Resources Defense Council and a co-author
of the study. “The healthcare costs never end up on the tab.”

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The world’s governments and relief agencies need to plan now to resettle millions of people expected to be displaced by climate change, an international panel of experts said on Thursday.

Resettlement is already occurring at the rate of some 10 million people a year, said the report’s lead author, Alex de Sherbinin. Climate-related resettlement projects are under way in Vietnam, Mozambique, on the Alaskan coast, the Chinese territory of Inner Mongolia and in the South Pacific.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The world’s governments and relief agencies need to plan now to resettle millions of people expected to be displaced by climate change, an international panel of experts said on Thursday.

Resettlement is already occurring at the rate of some 10 million people a year, said the report’s lead author, Alex de Sherbinin. Climate-related resettlement projects are under way in Vietnam, Mozambique, on the Alaskan coast, the Chinese territory of Inner Mongolia and in the South Pacific.

There are no small parts, only small actors, or so the old show-biz saying goes. Now there are big stars — Matt Damon and Brad Pitt — playing two of the smallest parts ever. In a far cry from “Ocean’s Eleven” (and 12 and 13) they’re lending their voices to a pair of krill, small shrimp-like creatures that form the base of the Antarctic food web.

Pitt and Damon play Will and Bill, the krill, in “Happy Feet Two,” the sequel to the 2006 dancing-penguins animated feature. Both films have conservation themes. The latest movie opens in mid-November.

Coca-Cola has one of the most recognizable brands on the planet: the red can with the white letters. World Wildlife Fund has an equally eye-catching logo: a black-and-white panda. This week, the two are joining forces to change the Coke can’s look from red to white. It’s meant to raise awareness and money to find a safe haven for polar bears, listed as a threatened species because their icy Arctic habitat is melting under their paws due to climate change.

In a project called Arctic Home, Coke plans to turn 1.4 billion of its soft-drink cans white for the first time in its history, replacing the familiar red with an image of a mother polar bear and two cubs making their way across the Arctic. There will also be white bottle caps on other drinks the company sells. The new look is to show up on store shelves from November 1 through February 2012.

WASHINGTON, Oct 25 (Reuters) – Like oil in the 20th
century, water could well be the essential commodity on which
the 21st century will turn.

Human beings have depended on access to water since the
earliest days of civilization, but with 7 billion people on the
planet as of Oct. 31, exponentially expanding urbanization and
development are driving demand like never before.

WASHINGTON, Oct 18 (Reuters) – Food giant Nestle Ltd and miner Rio Tinto are among the
companies best placed to cope with water risks from floods,
droughts and pollution, according to a new investment tool
released on Tuesday.

Geared to institutional investors, the Aqua Gauge released
by the Ceres coalition of investors and environmental groups
measures how well companies are prepared for water scarcity and
water stress, which are forecast to worsen in coming decades.

About Deborah

"I started with Reuters in 1986 in New York City, moving to Washington DC two years later. I've covered the Winter Olympics in Calgary and Salt Lake City, a couple wars, the State Department, White House, Pentagon, several long trials and a presidential sex scandal. Since 2006, I've been reporting on the environment and climate change."